


I Can't Spend My Whole Life Dreamin'

by chimeras



Category: Newsies!: the Musical - Fierstein/Menken
Genre: F/F, M/M, fluff cause i cant write smut
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-02-06
Updated: 2018-02-06
Packaged: 2019-03-03 04:35:31
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,154
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13333617
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/chimeras/pseuds/chimeras
Summary: When Crutchie comes across a bookstore/café, and a cute employee, he can't stop himself from visiting it whenever he can.





	I Can't Spend My Whole Life Dreamin'

**Author's Note:**

> so this fic is barely an original idea, all the credit goes out to @actingwithportals and her story "Ain't It A Fine Life" which you can find here: http://archiveofourown.org/works/12783741/chapters/29170455  
> but yeah i hope you enjoy this little thing :)

The bell at the top of the door rang as it opened. Jack stopped drawing and looked up to see a young blonde with a crutch under his arm approaching him.

“Welcome to Katherine’s Corner, can I help you find anything specific?” Jack said standing from his stool and leaning on the counter in front of him.

“Well, nothin’ in specifics but I need a good read. I got a couple days of break and I’m on a search for something new to pick up.” He said, “Got any recommendations?”

“As a matter of fact, I do,” Jack said, walking around and out from behind the counter. The blonde boy followed his trail. He walked over to a shelf and pulled a book out after scanning the rows of books.

“Simon vs. The Homo Sapiens Agenda. One of the best books I’ve ever picked up off of these fine shelves.” Jack said, handing the red book to the boy standing next to him.

“What’s it about?” The boy asked, turning it over to the backside and reading the description.

“Ha, reminds me of my teenage years.” He laughed. Jack smiled at him.

“You got a name?” Jack asked.

“Everyone calls me Crutchie, Crutchie Morris. The nickname that came with this bum leg of mine.” The boy - Crutchie - said, looking down at the leg closest to the crutch.

“Well, my name’s Jack, if you were wondering. Uh, lemme bring you to the counter to pay for that.” Jack said, taking the book from Crutchie and walking to the counter.

“If you want, the coffee 

Crutchie paid for his book and gave a smile before walking out the door.

When the boy left, all Jack could think about was his smile, how bright it was and how happy he looked through the entire eight minutes they encountered each other. He sat back down on his stool and turned to a new page in his thin dollar-store sketch pad, starting the sketch of a new light in his life.

* * *

“Who in the hell is that?” Spot asked, pointing at the almost finished sketch.

“Just some kid who came in yesterday. Real sweet, you shoulda been there.” Jack explained.

“Real sweet, huh? Looks like our Jackie has his own little crush.” Spot said jokingly.

“You know, I say one nice thing about a freakin’ customer, and this is what I get,” Jack said, flipping the cover of the sketchpad closed.

“Jack, last time you were this nice talkin' about someone, well, you weren’t.” Race said, coming out from the back room behind the small cafe with a grin on his face.

It had been a couple days, three to be exact (but who’s counting), and Jack hadn’t stopped thinking about Crutchie. He had already drawn three pictures of him and his smile. That smile that Jack hadn’t stopped thinking about since he first saw it.

Then the bell from the door rang and Jack’s head shot up. I walked the same short blonde from yesterday. Jack felt his heart melt at the sight of the bright smile the boy wore on his face.

“I finished the book, I thought you’se should know. A real page-turner, you really got me hooked on it. When I found out who blue was, I’se was almost cryin’. I can’t believe it was-”

“Hey! I didn’t finish so shut your trap blondie.” Spot interrupted from behind the café bar.

“He’s a slow reader,” Jack whispered.

“I heard that you little shit,” Spot yelled out again, causing Crutchie and a couple other customers to laugh. Jack put his hands up in defense as he walked out from behind the counter.

“Need another book to keep you busy?” Jack asked him already starting to walk over to the shelves.

“Actually no. I brought my textbooks, got me a huge test in a couple days. I can’t fail.” Crutchie said, walking over to a table in the café area. There were a couple other people, but it wasn’t very busy that day. There were three other people reading and drinking coffee in the café and five people wandering the bookstore for new pieces of writing to enjoy. One of which was walking to the register with a stack of about four books. Jack walked back behind the register and helped them pay.

A woman came out from the back room quick

“I heard that before, Spot. What did I say about cursing in front of the customers?” She said, eyebrows furrowed in frustration.

“My bad, Katherine.” Spot said back to the red-headed woman.

After a couple hours, everyone had left the bookstore. Everyone, except Crutchie. Jack was about to leave along with Spot and Race. He saw Crutchie with his head so deep in a textbook, he barely even noticed he had fallen asleep at first.

“You guys start the car and pull it to the front, I’ll be out there in a minute. I’m gonna lock the place up.” Jack said to the two boys. They gave each other a look with a grin before walking out of the store. Jack walked over to the softly sleeping boy, nudging him slightly. He jerked his head up, his textbook falling to the ground along with his crutch that was previously leaning against a chair. They both hit the floor with a loud crash.

“I gotta close up now, Crutchie. It’s late.” Jack said, patting the boy's hair with his hand.

“What time is it?” Crutchie asked, rubbing his eyes.

“Time for you to head home,” Jack said, picking the fallen crutch up from the ground and handing it to the blonde boy.

“No, I need the actual time.” Crutchie said, rushing to pick up his book and put everything back into his backpack.

“Uh, 10:47.” Jack said, turning his phone on and off. Crutchie stopped and groaned.

“Damnit! I missed my bus.” He said, slowing down. Jack thought of the first solution that came to his head.

“Spot could probably drive you,” Jack said. Would Spot drive him?

“Really?” Crutchie asked. Probably not.

But, Jack kept insisting anyways. After about 30 more seconds of back and forth, Crutchie accepted the offer to be driven home.

Jack swiftly took out his phone and called spot. He picked up after a couple seconds.

“Jack, we’se literally right outside. Why are you callin’ me?”

“Can you’se give Crutchie a ride home?” He asked quietly.

“Crutchie?” Spot responded, clearly confused.

“Blonde boy with the crutch under his arm, I didn’t think it’d be that hard to spot the kid out with that kinda nickname,” Jack said.

“Fine, ok, whatever. Just hurry up, it’s cold as a snowman’s ass with this stupid weather.”

Jack hung up on Spot, looking out to see him and Race in the car parked outside the front of the building. He grabbed Crutchie’s backpack for him and lead the short blondie out to the car.

**Author's Note:**

> ok so for anyone reading this, this took me a literal month to actually complete and post so if you like this and want more you better have the most patience in the world because i am a slowwwwwwww writer


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